Every five years, each peak would send its newly recruited disciples to participate in the sect tournament. Thinking about it, this year happened to be the fifth year. As for new disciples, Jade Radiance Peak only had Ning Qingxue. However, with her current strength, she could only be considered a late-game powerhouse who still needed time to grow.
Given enough time, with Ning Qingxue’s Innate Dao Body, becoming a Great Emperor would hardly be a dream. She might even ascend to a higher realm someday. Therefore, Mo Wudu had to treat Ning Qingxue even better from now on, enough to erase his former image from her mind.
Starting today, he had to become a good Master. He did not expect Ning Qingxue to take him along when she ascended someday. All he wanted was for her not to hold a grudge against him for the abuse he had inflicted upon her in the past.
After the female elder finished checking the accounts, she entered the Provision Hall, retrieved a supreme-grade spirit stone, and handed it to Mo Wudu.
Now that he had what he came for, Mo Wudu had no reason to stay. He turned around and left the Provision Hall. However, he had barely stepped outside when a mocking voice stopped him.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Mo Wudu. Haven’t seen you in years. You look even more washed-up than before.”
Mo Wudu could not help feeling puzzled. He was supposed to be a villain in the novel, so why was some insignificant clown coming over to provoke him?
The speaker was Li Si of Jade Crane Peak. Five years ago, Li Si had lost to Mo Wudu during the sect tournament and had held a grudge ever since. Over the past several years, he had thrown himself into cultivation and had now reached the Golden Core Realm.
Li Si had also heard that Mo Wudu had been abandoned by his cultivation partner and had spent every day on his mountain drowning his sorrows in alcohol. He refused to believe that after wasting four entire years in despair, Mo Wudu could still defeat him. Thus, he had deliberately come to provoke Mo Wudu, hoping to settle their old score and regain his pride.
Searching through the memories of the original body, Mo Wudu quickly remembered who Li Si was and understood what he wanted. Mo Wudu said, “If you want to fight, I’ll oblige.”
Although Mo Wudu possessed all the original body’s memories, he still did not have a clear understanding of his own strength. Since a convenient whetstone had delivered itself right to his doorstep, this was the perfect opportunity to test himself.
Mo Wudu took out his flying sword, the Starlight Cloud Sword, and held it firmly in his hand, clearly ready to fight.
The surrounding disciples quickly noticed what was happening and moved aside, leaving an open space for the two of them. Duels were hardly uncommon within the sect. In the Jade Flower Sect, conflicts between disciples could be resolved through a duel, as long as neither side dealt a killing blow.
Li Si also drew his sword. Compared with Mo Wudu’s Starlight Cloud Sword, however, Li Si’s weapon looked rather shabby.
Seeing that his opponent was ready, Mo Wudu did not hesitate. He recalled the Jade Flower Sword Art he had learned and raised his sword, preparing to slash at Li Si.
That simple movement nearly scared Li Si senseless.
When he had looked at Mo Wudu moments earlier, the man had seemed utterly ordinary. Li Si could not even sense the slightest trace of spiritual power from his body. He had assumed that Mo Wudu had completely ruined himself after neglecting his cultivation for several years.
Yet the instant Mo Wudu raised his sword, Li Si felt as though the entire world itself had turned hostile toward him.
How could this possibly be the aura of someone who had abandoned his cultivation?
The pressure radiating from Mo Wudu was even stronger than what Li Si had felt from his own Master. His Master was a Nascent Soul Realm ancestor-level cultivator!
A terrifying realization immediately flashed through Li Si’s mind. ‘This bastard has definitely been pretending to be weak so he can catch people off guard! All that nonsense about wasting away for years was fake. With an aura like this, Mo Wudu must have reached at least the Nascent Soul Realm!’
Li Si made his decision instantly.
He dropped to his knees and pleaded, “Peak Master Mo, I was blind and failed to recognize someone far greater than myself. Please spare my life, Peak Master Mo!”
Li Si’s sudden kneeling left Mo Wudu completely dumbfounded. He had not even swung his sword yet, so why had this guy suddenly dropped to his knees? Hadn’t Li Si come here to settle their old score? Kneeling like this certainly did not look like someone trying to regain his pride.
Mo Wudu stared at him in confusion and said, “Li Si, what are you doing? At least let me swing my sword once.”
Li Si nearly broke down when he heard that. If Mo Wudu really swung that sword at him, wouldn’t he be sent straight into his next life?
Li Si hurriedly begged, “No, no, no! Peak Master Mo, it was my filthy mouth that caused all this. A great man shouldn’t hold a petty man’s mistakes against him. Just treat me like a fart and let me go!”
As he spoke, Li Si repeatedly slapped himself across the face. The longer Mo Wudu watched, the more bewildered he became. Li Si had been unbearably arrogant only moments ago, yet now he was groveling as humbly as possible.
Mo Wudu finally waved him away and said, “Forget it. If you don’t want to fight, then we won’t fight. Get lost.”
The moment Li Si heard those words, he did not dare remain there for another second. He stepped onto his flying sword and fled through the air in disgrace.
The surrounding disciples still had not fully understood what had just happened. They all knew Li Si. He was already a Golden Core Realm cultivator, and with his strength, he was more than qualified to become a Peak Master himself.
Yet someone that powerful had been frightened into fleeing without even daring to fight by a Peak Master whom most of them had never heard of before.
A female disciple curiously asked the people around her, “Do any of you know who he is?”
Another disciple immediately replied, “I know! I know! I saw him once during the disciple recruitment ceremony. I think he’s the Peak Master of Jade Radiance Peak. I was already stunned by how handsome he was back then. I never expected him to be so powerful too. I’m in love!”
Another disciple asked excitedly, “Jade Radiance Peak? Are they still accepting disciples? Can I transfer there?”
…
More and more people gathered around. Mo Wudu was still not accustomed to being the center of attention like this, so he stepped onto his flying sword and quickly left the troublesome scene behind.
Two minutes later, Mo Wudu returned to Jade Radiance Peak.
He went straight to Ning Qingxue’s room. This time, he had learned his lesson. Instead of pushing the door open without warning, he raised his hand and knocked.
A voice came from inside, “Who is it?”
Mo Wudu replied, “It’s me.”
Ning Qingxue immediately recognized his voice and asked, “Master?”
The moment she realized it was Mo Wudu, Ning Qingxue hurried out to greet him.
As soon as she opened the door and saw her Master, Ning Qingxue instinctively started to kneel. Mo Wudu, however, nearly panicked. How could he possibly accept her kneeling to him? Wasn’t she practically trying to shorten his life?
He hurriedly caught Ning Qingxue and stopped her from kneeling, saying, “No need to kneel. No need. Qingxue, I’ve already told you that you don’t have to kneel to me anymore.”
For some reason, Ning Qingxue had the strange feeling that her Master seemed almost afraid of seeing her kneel.
Ning Qingxue nodded obediently and asked, “Oh, okay. Master, did you need something from me?”
Before Mo Wudu arrived, Ning Qingxue had been cultivating the Jade Flower Art she had just received. Having a proper cultivation technique truly made an enormous difference. In only a short while, she had already broken through from the 2nd stage Qi Refining Realm to the 3rd stage Qi Refining Realm.
She had just been about to continue cultivating when someone knocked on her door.
Mo Wudu took out the supreme-grade spirit stone he had just brought back from the Provision Hall and held it out to her. He said, “Here, Qingxue. These are the cultivation resources allocated to Jade Radiance Peak. I don’t have any use for them anyway, so I’m giving them all to you. Cultivate properly. When the sect tournament comes around, I’ll be counting on you.”
Before Ning Qingxue could even respond, Mo Wudu had already stuffed the supreme-grade spirit stone into her hand.
He then added, “If you run into any problems with your cultivation, come directly to me. As your Master, this is about as much as I can help you with.”
After saying that, Mo Wudu turned around and left, leaving Ning Qingxue standing there utterly bewildered.
Ning Qingxue lowered her gaze to the spirit stone in her hand. She could clearly sense the immense spiritual power contained within it. There was no possible way something like this could be compared to a low-grade spirit stone. In her estimation, it had to be at least a high-grade spirit stone.
As she stared at the spirit stone in her palm, Ning Qingxue found herself even more unable to understand why her Master had suddenly started treating her so well.
More importantly, an entire day had already passed without her being whipped even once.
In the past, being whipped only once a day would already have been considered getting off lightly.
Now that no whip had fallen upon her for an entire day, Ning Qingxue had to admit that she actually felt a little uncomfortable with how unfamiliar it was…